Star Child
by TheVampireDragon
Summary: Her name is Lucy, and they have loved her since the moment they saw her. Tales of Lucy as told by her Spirits.
1. Chapter 1

** This story is going to be sort of drabble-ish. The chapters won't be true drabbles, but they will be short and kind of meandering. Because each chapter is told by a different character and is about about a different event, each chapter could be rated anywhere from K to M. Each chapter gets its own warnings, summary, and rating. Things will be in roughly chronological order. There's also a likelihood of me playing around with the timeline of events during Lucy's childhood, since there are some things we don't know about, such as at what specific age she lost her mother.**

** Also, don't expect regular updates. This will be one of those stories that are updated whenever the inspiration hits me. Now, this chapter! *flourishes***

_~Star Child~_

_Rating: K_

_Warnings: None_

_Summary: Lucy's future Celestial Spirits meet her for the first time. She's a little young, but they have a feeling she'll do just fine._

_Word Count: 1452_

_~Star Child~_

She is less than two hours old when they meet her for the first time.

When her mother, Layla, became pregnant, her Spirits had been overjoyed for her. Capricorn in particular was very happy. He had sworn to protect Layla and her descendants after all, and soon, the first one would be here! Cancer and Aquarius were pleased for Layla of course, but not as much as Capricorn. It didn't affect them as much.

That changed when Layla told them that she would teach her unborn daughter to be a Stellar Spirit Mage, and would eventually pass on her keys to her.

_Now_ the Spirits were really interested. This wasn't just their summoner's child, this was their future master. Even Crux, who spent most of his time sleeping or thinking, was eager for the arrival of the child.

Capricorn flinches as another bloodcurdling scream comes from the hospital room. Layla had requested that her three Zodiac Spirits be there for the birth, but Capricorn is beginning to regret coming. Hearing Layla in such pain while he can do nothing is agonizing. He glances at Cancer. He looks just as worried, and his crab legs are doing a nervous kind of jig. Cancer voices both their thoughts.

"Is she supposed to be screaming this loudly, ebi?"

"Childbirth is painful," Aquarius says nonchalantly, hovering over the glass of water Layla had used to summon her. She is trying to look indifferent, but her tail is swishing a little instead of being in its usual elegant fold. Capricorn knows that she's unhappy here; she hadn't wanted to come in the first place, but after Layla begged for a week she had to give in. "It probably doesn't help that she's sustaining two Zodiac Spirits at the same time," she adds just a tad spitefully.

Cancer's crab legs quiver with worry. Capricorn was strong enough to come through the gate on his own (which he had done), but both Cancer and Aquarius had needed Layla to summon them so they could come. Normally, Layla could call all three of her Zodiacs at once without a problem, but how hard is it to hold them here while giving birth? He wonders for a moment if he should leave.

"Relax, you stupid crab," Aquarius says derisively, "Women weaker than Layla go through childbirth all the time and come out fine."

"Hush, both of you," Capricorn says, "I hear something." The murmurs that Capricorn's sensitive ears were picking up are getting louder. Suddenly Layla cries out louder then ever.

"I see the head!" the midwife cries out, "Push, Mrs Heartphilia, push!"

The three spirits perk up. Layla's cries become more and more agonized, and then suddenly the cries of a baby join the cacophony of noise.

"It's a girl!" the midwife exclaims. The baby seems to cry louder at this.

"Damn, but that thing can make some noise!" Aquarius complains. Capricorn doesn't reprimand her. He is too busy trembling with excitement.

Cancer obviously shares his sentiments, crab legs dancing around and an unusually large smile on his face. "I hope they let us in soon, ebi," he says.

Unfortunately, it isn't soon. In fact it is another hour before the nurse opens the door and calls for them. Capricorn picks up Aquarius' cup and the three Spirits file inside. The doctor jumps a little at the sight of them. The nurses, who had come and gone, had gotten used to them during Layla's nine hour labor, but the doctor hadn't seen them yet. Capricorn barely even notices the man. His gaze goes straight to his beloved Master. Layla looks positively exhausted, lying in a bed and propped up by pillows, but her face glows with happiness. Her husband, who Capricorn has never bothered to remember the name of (he's not important, not to Capricorn), is sitting across the room with his head between his knees as he tries to calm down. A nurse is bandaging one of his fingers. Evidently Layla had broken it.

"Hey, guys," Layla greets them, the exhaustion in her voice eclipsed by the overwhelming happiness on her face, "Come meet the newest member of the Heartphilias." The three Spirits crowd around her bed, looking curiously at the pink bundle she holds. Layla shifts the blankets, exposing the baby's face.

The infant has a thick head of blonde peach fuzz. Her nose is tiny, as are her lips, but already she is beautiful. At Cancer's gasp of awe, her lashless eyes open, showing eyes that are a murky blue.

"I didn't expect her to have blue eyes," Aquarius comments softly.

"She doesn't, necessarily," Layla says, "Almost all babies are born with blue eyes. They'll develop into their true color in a couple months."

"She's so little," Capricorn says. The baby looks at him with a surprising amount of focus for a newborn. In that moment, Capricorn remembers countless times of feeling kicks, of soothing the restless unborn baby with stories of the Spirit world. He wonders if the baby remembers too.

Layla holds the baby out to him. "Wanna hold her?" she says, a bit of mischief sparkling in her eye. Capricorn's own eyes widen, but he reaches out and takes the precious bundle. He holds her carefully, aware of how one of his hands is twice the size of her head. As he takes her, the pink blanket slips away, and her tiny arms and legs are free. She kicks in joy, and as soon as she's settled in his arms she swipes an arm through the air. He blinks in surprise. She does it again, and this time she hits his beard. Her tiny fingers twitch, and Capricorn realizes that she's trying to grab his beard. Something about it, some unknown feeling in his chest, makes him smile, and then it makes him laugh. It starts as a tiny chuckle, but soon develops into full blown laughter. The infant laughs along with him, tiny, high pitched giggles. It makes the new parents beam, to hear their baby laugh for the first time. Something in Capricorn is proud that her first smile, her first laugh, is because of him. Dimly, in the back of his mind, he registers that a part of him already loves this little future Master.

Cancer taps him on a shoulder with a crab leg. "Don't hog her, ebi," he scolds, "Let us have a turn, ebi!" Reluctantly, Capricorn hands the baby to the Crab Spirit.

Cancer holds the baby just as gently as Capricorn. He even removes his triangular sunglasses to get a better look at her. The six crab legs curl around them, lovingly, protectively, making a barrier between the baby and the dangers of the outside world. The doctor looks nervously at the appendages, but Layla smiles, knowing her newborn is safe in that cage, that she'll _always_ be safe in that cage. Cancer smiles gently. Unlike Capricorn, he is not thinking of times past, but of the future this baby will have. He touches her blonde hair and wonders when it will be long enough to style for the first time. Then he turns and offers the baby to Aquarius.

"Ugh," the Water Bearer says, making a face. Nevertheless, she takes the baby, holding her correctly, if a little less gently than either of the others. The baby gives her a toothless smile, and Aquarius softens a little bit. She examines a tiny hand, looks at the perfect little nails. She jerks in surprise when the baby curls her hand around the Spirit's finger. Suddenly, Aquarius is no longer ice; she's melted butter instead. "A girl, huh?" Aquarius says, "Better than a boy. Got lucky there, Layla." Layla laughs, and Aquarius lightly bounces the baby in her arms. "You know, munchkin," she says conversationally, "I've got a boyfriend. A great boyfriend. And you know, one day you'll have one too." The new father chokes from where he sits, and the nurse makes him put his head back between his knees before he starts hyperventilating. "And if you don't have one, I'll make sure you get one. A good one, who's hot and has good abs and treats you nice." Aquarius nods to herself, evidently deciding that this is going to happen no matter what.

"S-She's a bit young for that, e-ebi..." Cancer says weakly. Capricorn and Layla's husband are in a similar state. Layla, on the other hand, seems absolutely delighted. Aquarius hands the infant back to Layla, and the baby settles into her mother's arms for a restful nap.

It occurs to Capricorn that there is one question that they haven't thought to ask yet.

"What's her name?" he asks.

"Her name is Lucy. Lucy Heartphilia."

_~Star Child~_

** Maybe I should have put a warning for fluff or sickening sweetness.**

** Ah, I'm sure you're all fine.**

** Did you enjoy? I know I enjoyed writing it. I was a little iffy on the usage of present tense, since I normally write in past tense, but that's just the way it naturally flowed. Tell me how I did on that, please.**

** I haven't planned on doing a lot of the main events from the series. We already know how Lucy rescues Loke and gets Gemini, et cetera, et cetera. What I'm planning on focusing on his the behind the scenes stuff, the relationship building and the things that happened before Lucy joined Fairy Tail. I'm kinda on a roll right now, so the next chapter should be up today or tomorrow.**

** Thanks for reading!**

** Vamp**


	2. Chapter 2

** I was really pleased with the turnout for the last chapter guys. While I only have one review thus far (Shout out to QueenOfDarkHearts for being the first to review this story!), a ton of people favorited and followed not only this story, but me as well. I've never had such a turnout for any of my stories' first chapter, and it made me very happy.**

** Since I was so pleased, I started this chapter about 3 hours after I posted the first one.**

_~Star Child~_

_Rating: K_

_Warnings: None_

_Summary: Cancer sees Lucy for the first time since she was born. She's gotten quite a bit bigger. And even better, her hair is beautiful!_

_Word Count: 1307_

_~Star Child~_

Layla's health has been failing.

It took her a long time, longer than it should have, to recover from giving birth while sustaining two Celestial Spirits. Even though she's recovered from that now, she's been having bouts of sickness. She'll fall ill, then recover, then fall ill again, sometimes before she's even recovered from the previous one. They used to be short, but they've been getting longer. Cancer has watched from the Spirit world, silently concerned.

He is talking with Libra right now. She's a very level headed Spirit, and normally is good at reassuring others. Her summoner's wife has just had a baby, and she too is promised to the child once old enough. He was hoping for some reassurance, given in Libra's cold, logical way, that Layla's health issues are normal, but Libra's also very good at hurting others. She doesn't do it intentionally, but she does not lie, and she's not sparing his feelings. Cancer is feeling worse by the minute talking to her. He is glad when he feels the tingle that means he's being summoned.

There is a whirlwind of color, and then he reforms in Layla's bedroom. He feels a pang in his heart when he sees his beloved summoner. She's obviously suffering from another bout of sickness; her face is pale and drawn, and she's lost weight, her cheeks sunken. She's resting in the middle of her king sized bed, surrounded by fretful servants with trays of teas and soups, trying to tempt her. Cancer knows her servants love her for her kind and fair disposition. Her Spirits love her for the exact same reason. She smiles at him, and it hurt to see how much it tires her just to _smile_.

"How are you, ebi?" He asks needlessly. It's obvious how she is.

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Layla's smile turns wry, "Come sit down, Cancer."

He sits down on the edge of the bed, but she beckons him closer, so he moves all the way onto the bed, sitting next to her with his legs crossed. She pats his knee kindly, as if _he's_ the one in need of comfort.

"I thought that you'd want to be here for this," Layla explains. Cancer doesn't understand, until a servant hands her a blonde baby.

He's surprised. Lucy's so much bigger than he remembers. It makes sense, of course; she's nearly eighteen months now. She's really a toddler more than a baby. The murky blue eyes Cancer remembers have turned into a clear chocolatey brown. He's absolutely amazed to see a flash of recognition in the baby's eyes. Is it possible that she remembers him when she's only met him once eighteen months ago?

Lucy grins at him and says, "Ba." Cancer can see teeth starting to show in her gums.

Layla coos at her daughter. "Yes, you remember Cancer, don't you?" She grins proudly at Cancer. "Lu-chan is a very smart girl."

"I'm not surprised, ebi," he replies, "Especially when you consider who her mother is, ebi."

Layla grins again. She waves a hand, and the servants reluctantly depart. "Lu-chan's hair has gotten long enough to style. Wanna help?"

Cancer grins and nods. Lucy's silky blonde hair reaches to her jaw now, just long enough to style cutely. He doesn't acknowledge the thought he has in the back of his mind, the thought that Layla summoned him because she's too weak to do it herself.

It's a valid thought.

Cancer helps Layla sit up. He pulls out a brush, and together they carefully brush Lucy's hair. Cancer had expected her to protest, but Lucy is beaming and babbling half formed words. She's loving the attention, and it's so cute that even Aquarius couldn't think she wasn't adorable. Even better, by the time her hair is fully brushed, she's learned his name.

"Canca!"

Or at least the closest thing.

"Canca!" Lucy chirps again.

"Yes, ebi?"

"Canca, up!" Lucy demands, holding her arms up in the universal 'pick me up' sign. Cancer obliges.

She's heavier than he remembers, and in the time that he's distracted moving two of his six legs to support her, she's stolen his sunglasses. Lucy waves her prize around gleefully.

"You can't have those, ebi," Cancer reprimands gently. He tries to take them back, but Lucy hugs them to her little chest.

"Mine!" Lucy shrieks, her little toddler voice amazingly loud.

"Lucy, that's not nice. Those aren't yours. Give them back," Layla scolds her gently.

Lucy pouts a little, but she offers the glasses back to Cancer.

"Tell Cancer that you're sorry."

"Lucy looks up at him, still pouting, before saying, "Sowwy Canca."

"It's all right, ebi," he says, taking his glasses back and replacing them on his face. Lucy is still pouting as he sets her down on his lap and begins separating her hair into sections. She would look cute with some bangs to frame her little face...

Cancer clips away carefully. Lucy watches him curiously, and Layla is smiling peacefully. He wonders if this reminds her of when they used to do each other's hair. It's what it reminds him of.

He finishes clipping, and tilts up Lucy's head so that he can get a good look at her. Cancer gives a tiny smile; he was right, the bangs framed her face and brought her big brown eyes out. There was still something missing though.

He separates the rest of her hair into two parts. Lucy's hair isn't long enough to braid yet, so he puts it into two tiny pigtails. She looks truly adorable this way.

"There, ebi," Cancer says softly, "Don't you look pretty now, ebi?"

Lucy latches onto the one word she really understands. "Pretty?" she asks.

"Yes, pretty, ebi," he says with another small smile, "Do you want to see, ebi?"

"Yeah!"

Cancer chuckles and picks her up, two crab legs moving to help support her weight. He is surprised when she puts her arms around his neck and pretty much supports herself. He cradles her with the legs anyway. He's carrying precious cargo, after all.

He carries her across the room to stand in front of a full body mirror. It shows a man with crab legs, holding an adorable toddler with pigtails clad in a pink dress. Cancer gets Lucy's attention, then points at the toddler in the mirror.

"Who's that, ebi?" he asks, "She's very pretty, ebi."

"That's Lucy!" the toddler shrieks in joy.

"Are you sure, ebi? That girl is awfully pretty, ebi."

"Is Lucy!" the toddler insists.

"You know what, I think you're right, ebi! That is Lucy, ebi!" he says, pretending to be quite astonished.

Lucy screams in joy again, right into his ear. Cancer thinks that it's quite amusing that she can make so much noise with her little lungs, but wishes that she wasn't making it right in his ear.

"You know who should see this, ebi? Your mama, ebi. Do you want to show your mama, ebi?" he asks, bouncing her in his arms. Cancer thinks that he's got this toddler thing down.

"Yeah!"

Cancer gives another one of his tiny smiles and turns around. He's quite surprised to find that Layla has drifted off while he was entertaining Lucy.

Said toddler looks up at him with an adorable pout. "Mama sleep," she says, sounding quite disappointed.

"I think you're right, ebi," Cancer sighs, pretty disappointed himself. Lucy does look very cute, after all. He looks at his sleeping Master, then down at his tiny charge. "We can show her later, ebi," he decides. He spots an armchair by a window. Cancer sits down, sitting up perfectly straight so as to avoid crushing his crab legs. He arranges Lucy in his lap, and she looks up at him curiously. He smiles at her.

"Wanna hear a story, ebi?"

_~Star Child~_

** This chapter is about 145 words shorter than the previous ones, but I don't think 145 words matter too much. I think the chapter works anyway.**

** As I said above, I started this chapter 3 hours after I posted the first chapter. Then I had to go to bed, then I had to go to school, then I came home and finished typing it up. In that time, around 17 hours, I got two more reviews, and a couple more favorites and alerts. That's more than I got for my first multichapter story in the first week. I adore you people, I truly do. Please keep it up, it makes me so happy~~~3 It also makes me determined to post the next chapter.**

** So, I might have taken some liberties with childhood development in this chapter. I looked it up, and an eighteen month old can walk and say simple words and phrases, but Lucy's saying simple sentences. I also have no idea if she would have teeth by that point, so I wrote it so that they were just coming in.**

** I also think I put way too much faith in a person's ability to stay asleep (even more to _fall_ asleep) in a room with a screaming toddler, but hey. Let's just chalk it up to Layla being sick and needing her rest.**

** I also just realized that I never put up a disclaimer, so here:**

** I don't own Fairy Tail, and make no profit from this.**

** I'll make sure to put that at the start in the future.**

**Please keep reading and reviewing my loves~~!**

** Vamp**


	3. Chapter 3

** You know, you guys are spoiling me. I believe I mentioned last chapter how the response for this story in the first two days was better than the response for any of my other stories in the first week? Before, I was overjoyed with the response. Now, I'm getting greedy. I WANT MORE LOVE! GIVE ME MORE LOVE! *crazed stalker girlfriend expression* So I decided the best way to get more love was to post another chapter. So here you go. Do you love me yet?**

** Also, quick note that may make you guys not love me: I've been getting a lot of reviews talking about how sweet and cute this story is. While I appreciate the love, I have to warn you that each chapter gets its own rating for a reason. There will be times when things will not be sweet and cute, they will be sad, scary, or downright nasty. I already have a near rape scene planned for later chapters (much later). I just want to warn you guys that this will not always be happy fun adorableness. It's only cute right now because Lucy's still so young. Make SURE you read the summary and warnings for EVERY CHAPTER!**

** One last thing: I received a review that I think is best to answer out here, to head off similar questions. The review was:**

_** Where's Capricorn and Aquarius? Mostly Capricorn. )**_

** This is a good question in hindsight (at the time I was like 'What do you mean? They just aren't in the chapter :/ ). Each chapter focuses on one main Spirit, and that's the one that's telling the story, if you can tell a story from third person POV. There may be other Spirits, there may not be, but the chapter focuses on Lucy and one Spirit. I plan to eventually have at least one chapter for all of Lucy's Spirits.**

** So, yeah. That's that and here's the chapter.**

_~Star Child~_

_Rating: K+_

_Warnings: None_

_Summary: Lucy will never tell anybody who taught her to swim. If she did, Aquarius would kill her._

_Word Count: 1550_

_~Star Child~_

Lucy is three years old now.

She is a bright, happy child, used to the company of her mother and the loving attention of many servants. Her Papa isn't always there, but she doesn't mind too much, because when he is there he swings her through the air and lets her ride on his shoulders. Lucy loves riding on Papa's shoulders, because the only person taller than Papa is Capico.

Capico is one of Mama's special friends. Mama has four, but Lucy's only met two; Capico and Canca. 'Capico' and 'Canca' aren't their real names, but their names are hard to say, especially for a little girl who replaces 'rah' with 'wah'. Besides, they said she could call them that. They _said_.

Today, Mama says she's going to meet another special friend.

Lucy sits by the pool, watching Mama. She's a bit confused, because normally Mama doesn't let her near the pool. Mama pulls out something gold and shiny and sticks in the water.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

Aquarius is pouting in the Spirit World. Scorpio's not here today – his summoner needed him for a mission – and she's _bored_. She is almost glad when she feels the tingle that tugs her towards her summoner.

When she reforms in front of Layla, she's not glad anymore. Not glad at _all_.

Layla has summoned her in a swimming pool. _A Swimming Pool!_ At least it's a saltwater pool and not a chlorine pool. Chlorine does _awful_ things to her scales. Layla stands before her in a red and white bikini. She's looking better – tired, but in good health. Aquarius is glad; it means she can be hard on her without feeling guilty.

"What do you want?" Aquarius says coldly.

Layla smiles, used to Aquarius' grumpy nature. "I was hoping you'd help me with Lucy-chan today," she says, indicating something to her left. Aquarius looks and finds a blonde child – a _tiny_ child – watching her. She wears a blue swimsuit decorated with Aquarius' Zodiac symbol. It's such an obvious bribe that Aquarius rolls her eyes.

The kid does look cute though.

"Hi. 'M Lucy," the kid smiles at her, big brown eyes looking up at her innocently.

_Lucy?!_ This is Lucy, the infant she held on the day she was born? Holy crap that kid has grown!

"Um... hi," Aquarius says. She can't really be mean to a kid this little, after all...

"Do you know Canca?"

Canca? Who the heck is – oh. _Cancer_.

"Yes, I know Cancer," she says.

Lucy's eyes light up.

"Do you know Capico too?!"

Aquarius crosses her arms over her chest. "Yes, I know Capricorn too. You should really call them by their real names," she snips.

The kid's smile disappears and she scowls at the Spirit.

"Their names are hard to say," Lucy says defiantly, "And they said I could call them that. They _said_ so!"

Aquarius hides her smirk. She has to admit, the kid has spunk. Either that or she was a spoiled brat. "Well you had better call me by my real name. It's Aquarius. Remember it, munchkin!"

Just as expected, Lucy rises to the challenge. "Imma call you Aqua!" she declares. If she wasn't being so irritating it would be hysterical how much a three year old looks like a Lord commanding a servant. Definitely a bit spoiled, Aquarius decides.

"Lucy! Behave yourself!" Layla scolds, "If Aquarius wants you to call her by her name, then you will call her by her name! You're being very rude!"

Lucy pouts, looking every inch the offended princess, but looks up at Aquarius and without any prompting says, "I'm sorry, Aquarius."

Aquarius smirks and says, "At least you have manners, kid."

Lucy's little fists clench, but before she can retaliate, Layla says, "Lucy, behave yourself. Aquarius is a friend, not a servant. You don't mistreat your friends."

That's definitely got to be the thing that Aquarius likes most about Layla. To her, her Spirits were friends, not objects or servants.

Layla hurries on quickly, before her daughter and Spirit can get in another argument. "Anyway, Aquarius, I was hoping you would help me teach Lucy-chan how to swim today. She doesn't know how to yet, and you're obviously the best person to teach her – who could be better at swimming than you?"

Aquarius appreciates the flattery, and graciously nods. Layla picks up her daughter, and starts wading down the pool stairs. Aquarius simply cancels her levitation and lands in the pool with a splash. Layla walks forward until her daughter is submerged up to her waist – which is really about mid torso for Layla. The kid shivers.

"It's cold!" She complains. Aquarius is beside them with a mere flick of her powerful tail.

"You'll get used to it munchkin," she assures her pupil, "Here, give her to me. Layla, you go sit on the stairs." They transfer the kid, who looks nervous to death, and Layla sits on the steps. Aquarius pauses, trying to figure out what to teach Lucy first. Swimming with legs and swimming with a tail are quite a bit different, after all. She eventually decides that it's probably best to teach her how to tread water before anything else, so she goes to a place where the water is over Lucy's head, but not by much. It's too shallow for Aquarius to be vertical, so she flips herself so that she's floating on her back. She puts Lucy all the way down in the water, but keeps a hold of her waist.

"Alright munchkin, I want you to kick your feet and sort of wave your arms," she tells her. It sounds stupid, sure, but that's basically the motion for treading water, right? Lucy looks terrified, so Aquarius adds, "It's okay, I won't let you drown." Lucy does not look particularly reassured, but she starts doing the motions. Aquarius lets her go, and is pleased when Lucy only sinks up to her chin, instead of all the way under as she expected. "Kick your legs a bit harder – there you go. You're doing good. Tell me when you get tired."

She gets the hang of it quickly, and beams in pride. It looks so cute that Aquarius gives her a kind pat on the head – making her sink all the way under.

"Crap," Aquarius pulls her up quickly. "There, there, you're fine."

Lucy isn't hurt, just indignant, and the lesson continues.

Once she's mastered treading water (as much as three year old can master anything), Aquarius moves on to actual swimming. She doesn't teach her the breaststroke or anything like that, but she teaches her a way of swimming that's natural for humans. Humans are naturally somewhat aquatic creatures; in fact, the small flaps of skin that are found between the fingers and toes are actually undeveloped, primitive webbing** (1)**. The way she teaches Lucy is better than any old method humans have come up with. Lucy's doing so well that Aquarius decides to challenge her.

She swims out to a deeper part of the pool, where she can be vertical; a human would have to tread to keep their head above water. Layla stands on the other side of the pool, waist deep in water.

"Alright Lucy, swim to your Mama," Aquarius instructs her, "Don't worry, if you start to go under, I'll get you."

"Okay, Aquarius!" Lucy chirps. Over the course of the lesson, Lucy has come to trust and love her just as much as she loves and trusts Cancer and Capricorn. Aquarius lets her go, and Lucy treads water perfectly.

"Come to Mama, Lucy-chan!" Layla says, holding her arms out encouragingly. Aquarius knows that she's nervous, but Aquarius has faith in Lucy, and even if she can't do it, the Spirit can be by her side in moments.

Layla's worries are completely unfounded. Lucy starts towards her mother, and Aquarius smiles in pride. Lucy's swimming like a fish. A very _fast_ fish. She reaches her mother in no time.

Aquarius smiles smugly. She's a darn good teacher, if she does say so herself. Maybe she should open up a swim school or something.

Layla drifts back with Lucy in her arms. She lounges on the underwater steps, and with a flick of her tail Aquarius is beside her. Aquarius lounges in the steps as well, still smug. She notices that Layla is giving her a soft, kind smile.

"What's up with you?" she says lazily, her tail swishing gently.

"Thank you," Layla says, "For the lesson. I know it took up a lot of your day and I appreciate that."

"Less than an hour will have passed in the Spirit World," she says dismissively.

"I still appreciate it. Thank you."

"Don't get used to it," Aquarius says sharply, "This 'lesson' is a one time thing. No more."

Layla smiles knowingly.

"Of course not."

Aquarius returns every Wednesday to give another lesson.

One day, the lessons will help Lucy survive being caught up in Aquarius' wave attacks. And far, far in the future, Lucy's friends are amazed when they see her swim.

"Holy crap, that's amazing Lucy!"

"Aye!"

"Way to go Luce!"

"Where did you learn to swim like that?"

Lucy just smiles nervously.

Aquarius would kill her if she told anyone where she learned to swim.

_~Star Child~_

**(1) **This is actually a true fact. According to what I know about the theory that this tidbit relates to, scientists think that we spent a nice portion of our evolutionary history by the seaside. We scrounged in the tide pools and swam in the shallows looking for shell fish. Some scientists actually theorize that a lot of our brainpower developed during this time, because shellfish are rich in the nutrients needed for brainpower. In order to help us swim, we developed webbed fingers and toes. The period of time this is thought to have happened in was geologically unstable – in other words, lots of volcanoes and earthquakes. That was what originally drove us to the seashore. When the region calmed down, we went back inland. There webbing was a hazard (image having flaps of skin catching on trees and rocks) so evolution got rid of it until we have only the vestigial bit we have today, which actually still helps us swim.

To my knowledge there is no fossil evidence for this, but scientists think the theory helps explain several things, including, but not limited to; webbed fingers and toes; crying and sweating (water and salt are valuable resources, unless you live next to an ocean); the average human can be taught to hold their breath for 20 minutes, as long as some marine mammals; and the fact that within minutes of birth, you can put a baby underwater and it will kick its legs and hold its breath. It may not actually swim, but it will damn well try. Most other baby land mammals don't have the faintest clue what to do with water. Some women actually GIVE BIRTH in water, on purpose, and the new born baby will swim to the surface. According to what I've heard, giving birth this way is supposed to be easier than giving birth traditionally.

Sorry for the long explanation, but I find human evolution legitimately fascinating.

_~Star Child~_

**I'm not as happy with this chapter as I usually am. I don't know what it's missing, but I don't like it as much as I liked the other two. Then again, I feel like it has a little bit more substance than chapter 2, so that's a plus. I also got to show off some! *wiggles in glee* I know a lot of stuff, and I love to share what I've learned, but I drive friends and family spare telling them things. My intellect and thought process are quite a bit higher than most of the people I know. I'm an intellectual, and most of my friends, while beautiful and amazing and smart, are not. So I like getting to show my knowledge off to people who aren't as annoyed with it as the are. Sorry, but get used to it darlings. If you like, I can tell you about how women's eyesight is naturally better than men****'****s, ****along with all the gory details?**

**Also, I know that the Lucy we know is not snobbish or selfish, but my head canon is that is largely due to the death of her mother and the subsequent neglect from her father. I'm of the opinion that few little girls can go through being rich, surrounded by doting servants, and having a loving stay at home mom without coming out at least a little self centered. I view young Lucy as being a little self centered – encouraged by her father, enabled by the servants, but put under control by her mother. Once Layla dies and her father ignores her, her only friends are the servants and the Spirits, and she becomes the Lucy we know now.**


End file.
